The present invention relates to methods for forming stents comprising a bioabsorbable polymer and a pharmaceutical or biological agent in powder form onto a substrate.
It is desirable to have a drug-eluting stent with minimal physical, chemical and therapeutic legacy in the vessel after a proscribed period of time. This period of time is based on the effective healing of the vessel after opening the blockage by PCI/stenting (currently believed by leading clinicians to be 6-18 months).
It is also desirable to have drug-eluting stents of minimal cross-sectional thickness for (a) flexibility of deployment (b) access to small and large vessels (c) minimized intrusion into the vessel wall and blood.